


Calling You; Please Answer Me

by kiteflower



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 09:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1171252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiteflower/pseuds/kiteflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aomine finally replied, he wasn't there to hear it anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Calling You; Please Answer Me

The sun blazed from above him, and there were only the hoops of the outdoor court to shield him from the light, red with winding black paths of blood vessels from behind his lids. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to slow his breathing, his throat burning with thirst. He felt droplets of sweat slide down his neck, and his t-shirt clung to his body uncomfortably.

Even so, Aomine loved this.

He heard the sound of a still bouncing ball, and the scuffling of Kuroko's shoes against the rough cement.

"Hey, Tetsu, wanna get me some water?" Aomine called out, not bothering to open his eyes. It was silent. But it was a comfortable silence.

Aomine stayed there in the stuffy summer heat, waiting for the other blue haired boy to return with precious water. He listened to the cicadas and their annoying songs, and the rustling of deep green leaves in a slight breeze, thinking about how he never wanted this to end.

"Aomine-kun."

The Aomine didn't reply, concentrating instead on memorizing the way that Kuroko's voice blended into the orchestra of nature's sounds around him. It fitted right in, as if he belonged there all along.

"Aomine-kun."

Suddenly, something icy and cold pressed into his forehead. Startled, Aomine let out a higher-pitched-than-normal scream, immediately sitting up. Eyes wide and alert, he looked around for the attacker.

"Tetsu! You litte bastar―"

Aomine's words were cut off as the said boy finally popped up -slightly behind Aomine as if he had purposefully chosen the position knowing that it'd scare him- and innocent as ever. He was holding a bottle of Pocari Sweat. At this, Aomine let out another yelp, and scrambled backwards, away from Kuroko.

"Is that how you thank someone, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko tilted his head, staring at Aomine with those cerulean eyes of his as he stepped towards the former. Aomine felt lost for a second, in that calm and soul-deep blue. "Aomine-kun, I'm sure your mother taught you how to say 'thank you', so please don't make her disappointed."

Shaking his head, Aomine tried to focus on what Kuroko just said. The meaning of the words sank in before the actual words did. "Hah?! The hell did you just say? And don't bring my mother into this―"

The cold bottle slid down Aomine's back, prickling almost as if it was licked by flames. " _Tetsu_!"

He jumped up, profanity spilling out of his mouth as he grabbed the sports drink. Muttering more curses, Aomine twisted the lid open and began gulping down the bottle's contents.

From the corner his eye, he saw Kuroko's lips twitch up into a small smile of amusement. As he set down the half empty bottle, Aomine couldn't help the grin that made its way onto his face as well.

He really never wanted all this to ever end.

 

 

 

 

 

It was another boring day - another day that was spend lounging on the school's rooftop, skipping classes and skipping basketball practice. The light was too bright, and there weren't any shadows around to protect Aomine from the sun. He grumbled and slung his forearm over his eyes.

Yesterday was like this, and tomorrow will be like this. It was a seemingly endless cycle.

All Aomine wished for was someone to break this circle, pull him out and away from it. But he was tired of waiting. There was no one out there who could do that for him anymore.

The wind ruffled his short hair, and Aomine listened to the far off noises of car engines, the chattering of voices, the sounds of everyday life. Then a voice cut in.

"Aomine-kun."

His eyelids snapped open, his arms out of the way, and the light was almost blinding. Aomine's heart swelled up with something he couldn't put a name to, but it lifted his spirits up high.

Only to plummet back down to the ground.

As his pupils adjusted to the brightness, he saw that towering above him was a certain pink haired girl. Her magenta orbs were filled with fury, but also a hint of concern. Aomine met her gaze as carelessly as he could. (He stared and stared, and wouldn't get lost in the sea of amethyst.)

"Aomine-kun! Why aren't you at practice right now?" the girl chided.

Aomine tilted his head back, and stared at the clear, cloudless sky.

"The only one who can beat me, is me."

 

 

 

 

 

His cell phone sat on the coffee table, untouched. It lit up every few seconds with texts and calls, but Aomine didn't bother with picking it up. He sat with his back to the apartment's entrance, burying his head in his knees. The lights were turned off, leaving him in the darkness, save for the glow of the city from the window facing the bustling street below.

Numbness washed over him, and he stared at the floor, analyzing the rug's patterns, its colours. For a while, he stayed there, still as a rock, with the exception of his uneven breaths.

Finally, the alerts from his phone came to a stop, and seconds started to feel like hours. The silence was lonely and suffocating, and it caused a small sadness to bloom inside of Aomine.

Slowly, he crawled to the table to grab his phone. He curled up at the base of the couch.

Reading and listening to the messages, the Aomine barely comprehended their meanings, simply wanting something to distract him from the quietness.

(They've heard, then, judging from the sheer number of message that had been left for him.)

He scrolled down the list of senders, slightly curious as to how many were sent.

**_[Call at 21:50] Momoi Satsuki_ **

**_[Message at 21:47] Momoi Satsuki_ **

**_[Call at 21:45] Kise Ryouta_ **

**_[Call at 21:44] Midorima Shintarou_ **

**_[Message at 21:44] Momoi Satsuki_ **

**_[Call at 21:43] Sakurai Ryou_ **

**_[Message at 21:43] Murasakibara Atsushi_ **

**_[Call at 21:39] Akashi Seijuurou_ **

**_[Message at 21:38] Kise Ryouta_ **

**_[Message ** _at 21:38]_** Momoi Satsuki_ **

**_[Call at ** _21:36_** ] Momoi Satsuki_ **

As he reached the bottom, Aomine frowned at the last name in the list. He could only see that name, and he shut out the rest of the world.

**_[... ... ...] Kuroko Tetsuya_ **

He pressed 'select', before he realized it.

"To play message, press one." A robotic voice broke the silence.

 _Voice mail?_  Aomine hesitantly clicked on the said number, and waited.

He tensed as he heard Kuroko's smooth voice.

_"Hello, this is Kuroko Tetsuya. How are you, Aomine-kun? I'm good. I see that you're as lazy as ever, since you wouldn't even pick up your phone and answer me. I am looking forward to our match. It's been so long since we saw each other. Aomine-kun, Iー"_

There was the sound of screeching tires, and the voice mail ended. Aomine stared at the device in his hands, which he noticed was beginning to tremble. His breathing was becoming erratic. _  
_

"To replay message, press two."

His unblinking eyes stung, and behind the echo of Kuroko's voice, the meaning of his words began to piece themselves into a puzzle.

Subconsciously, he replayed it.

Kuroko's voice filled the entire apartment, filled the silence.

And Aomine would never know what he was going to say.

Something wet and stinging hot slid down his face, and he could only press the replay button over and over again.

_"― Aomine-kun, I ―"_

Before the tire noises could shriek through the silence again, Aomine smashed the phone against the wooden table, and his body involuntarily crumpled onto the floor, each breath bringing along a shudder that only got more hysterical than the last.

For the moment, he could only hear the tires skidding as the car lost control. His temples throbbed, and Aomine clutched his hair, digging his nails deep into his scalp.

(Maybe it will go away. The memories might completely disappear, if he just dug his fingers into his head hard enough.)

Time didn't always exist in the form of ticking clocks, and so it felt forever until the sky outside eventually brightened. He could see the faint rays of a rising sun on the edge of the horizon, the light bringing a bit of sanity with it. The sharp sound of tire against asphalt ebbed, and eventually silence engulfed the room again.

Aomine's breath hitched as he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Aomine-kun."

A pause. (Almost as if he had been cut off, and was trying to swallow down tremors so that he could say the name nice and steady.)

"Aomine-kun."

Aomine's head lifted up, expecting Kuroko's figure to appear in front of him like he'd always used to.

And this time, Aomine answered.

"Tetsu?"

He loosened his grip from his head, and saw that his nails were crusted with dry blood. He grinned at the sight, tasting salty things as he did. "Damn you, Tetsu, you made me so worried―"

"Aomine-kun. Aomine-kun."

Stopping his sentence abruptly, Aomine's eyes followed the source of the voice, leading him to his forgotten cell phone. He stopped breathing altogether.

"Aomine-kun."

Like a broken record player.

_"Aomine-kun."_

**Author's Note:**

> reading over this makes me realize how dramatic I was when I wrote it LOL (so I...edited some stuff it sounded so awkward haha not like it sounds any less awkward but better than nothing right orzlll)


End file.
